Once Prusa gets their Slic3r PE to have the same ease of adding and removing supports as S3D has, it is game over for S3D. That is the one area they REALLLY shine in, and are FAR ahead of everyone else.

Once Prusa gets their Slic3r PE to have the same ease of adding and removing supports as S3D has, it is game over for S3D. That is the one area they REALLLY shine in, and are FAR ahead of everyone else.

It is nearly there, already.
You can place and drag modifiers and support enforcres (boxes/cylinders) to your likings.
Not just as convenient with S3D but basically it is possible.
Once I switched to Slic3rPE I never went back.
Until then I waved the S3D-flag but got more and more disappointed with the development and their reactions on error reports.
The update-payment behaviour gave me the last kick.
No problem paying for a well maintained software and maybe for new developments.
But other software just is way ahead and free.

Excellent software payment is a must.
But S3D has a lot of cracked latest versions on the Internet for free.
I think the S3D team should face this problem because of the lost S3D potential paying users.
Version 5.0 is the largest update in history, so support from paid users is required, and users can choose whether to upgrade. But if the payment is upgraded, there will be no subsequent updates? Or version 5.0 is cracked again? Then I went to version 6.0 and paid for the upgrade again. Version 6.0 was cracked again? Even after version 7.0 8.0 9.0...
If S3D wants to mimic KISSlicer's paid upgrade method, do you need to provide a reliable update process and software that has not been cracked?
If S3D can't handle this problem, what is the meaning of my paid support?

Excellent software payment is a must.
But S3D has a lot of cracked latest versions on the Internet for free.
I think the S3D team should face this problem because of the lost S3D potential paying users.
Version 5.0 is the largest update in history, so support from paid users is required, and users can choose whether to upgrade. But if the payment is upgraded, there will be no subsequent updates? Or version 5.0 is cracked again? Then I went to version 6.0 and paid for the upgrade again. Version 6.0 was cracked again? Even after version 7.0 8.0 9.0...
If S3D wants to mimic KISSlicer's paid upgrade method, do you need to provide a reliable update process and software that has not been cracked?
If S3D can't handle this problem, what is the meaning of my paid support?

Every software gets eventually cracked, EVERY if only it have enough popular. So I disagree putting to much effort into making the software "uncrackable", this only increases the price for the legal users (for example look at Denuvo in the games industry) . Make the software so good that people who are using cracked version actually feel they should pay for it. Trust me, most of them will eventually do that and these who don't would anyway not buy it if they was no cracked version.

The reason some of us (speaking for myself here, at least, but I'm sure there are others who feel similarly) are complaining is that we took a chance on Simplify3D when they were an unknown company with a brand new product and made a promise to early adopters that if we gave them a chance, we would never pay for an upgrade for life. That model was presumably to attract early adopters and to help Simplify3D build momentum behind their product, company, and reputation, but obviously isn't a sustainable model to offer to everyone forever. The purchase page and terms have changed a bunch of times over the years, as has the overall design of the website and the amount of information on the product. Those of us buying Simplify3D in 2014 basically were taking a gamble on some marketing promises, with virtually no anecdotal or empirical evidence that it would be a worth product.

That said, those of us (again, speaking for at least me, but I assume others) who were promised that and who shelled out money in 2014 for a virtually unknown product when every single other slicer was free, and have been loyal customers that have spread the word and brought tens, hundreds, or thousands of new customers to Simplify3D over the years, and vouched for them with skeptics, not only might feel a bit cheated that the contract they entered into with us might not be honored, but also would have legal standing. I'm pretty sure S3D is going to stand behind the early adopters, though, and many of us will continue to recommend S3D to the multitude of people we encounter with questions about 3D printing if they do (I know I will, but I'm sure at least a couple have probably already jumped ship), considering it's been a great product since they introduced it, even if recent updates have come along more slowly as they focus on the future of the product, and there has been less communication than is ideal.

It's not just a matter of principle, but also a matter of just how much value early adopters bring. S3D wouldn't have been the success story it is today, were it not for the people who took a chance and gave them their money when the idea of paying for software to slice models was unheard of outside of proprietary toolchains for $100,000+ machines. We gave S3D a lot, and I hope they recognize that and do the right thing.

Excellent software payment is a must.
But S3D has a lot of cracked latest versions on the Internet for free.
I think the S3D team should face this problem because of the lost S3D potential paying users.
Version 5.0 is the largest update in history, so support from paid users is required, and users can choose whether to upgrade. But if the payment is upgraded, there will be no subsequent updates? Or version 5.0 is cracked again? Then I went to version 6.0 and paid for the upgrade again. Version 6.0 was cracked again? Even after version 7.0 8.0 9.0...
If S3D wants to mimic KISSlicer's paid upgrade method, do you need to provide a reliable update process and software that has not been cracked?
If S3D can't handle this problem, what is the meaning of my paid support?

Every software gets eventually cracked, EVERY if only it have enough popular. So I disagree putting to much effort into making the software "uncrackable", this only increases the price for the legal users (for example look at Denuvo in the games industry) . Make the software so good that people who are using cracked version actually feel they should pay for it. Trust me, most of them will eventually do that and these who don't would anyway not buy it if they was no cracked version.

Yes, enough popular software will be cracked.
But this premise is based on the team's strong financial resources, can ignore the impact of cracking software.
If there is a cracked version, it will not increase the price of paying users? Then why is S3D charged?
Maybe S3D wants to get revenue to stabilize the operation, so the upgrade version needs to pay.
3D printing is different from games, games have their life cycle, but 3D printing?
If you don't have a cracked version, you can use Cura, Kissicer, Slic3r, etc. Free excellent software, not to mention S3D offers Try it for a full two weeks! If you don’t love the software, return it for a full refund.
Unfortunately, some cracked version users, not only did not publish the comments to buy genuine S3D, but instead share, or remind the other party to mosaic the pictures in the licensed
If one day S3D is unable to operate, who will be the most affected?

Sure, we will but my point is - S3D seems to lack development power in my opinion. And spending it in this situation on making the software less crackable will only irritate the legal users who expects new futures. As most people will agree that S3D starts lacking in some futures compared to other slicers. And don't get me wrong, I sill really like S3D - most for it simple and intuitive interface. I absolute hate the GUI in Cura, slic3r is a lite bit better but still far away from S3D.

Sure, we will but my point is - S3D seems to lack development power in my opinion. And spending it in this situation on making the software less crackable will only irritate the legal users who expects new futures. As most people will agree that S3D starts lacking in some futures compared to other slicers. And don't get me wrong, I sill really like S3D - most for it simple and intuitive interface. I absolute hate the GUI in Cura, slic3r is a lite bit better but still far away from S3D.

Kisslicer? Kisslicer is also a good set of software, the disadvantage is that the Premium feature requires a fee, and there is no cracked version.
The S3D team will hope that new users will pay for support to maintain their operations. Paying users will want S3D to operate stably and update. Cracked users want to crack version updates and use new features for free.
The impact of cracking the version may cause the S3D team to be forced to stop operating due to lack of funds. The money paid by the paying user (including the version upgrade) will become a bubble, and the cracked version of the user only needs to replace the software.
Moreover, the S3D team can provide a refund during the trial period. If you like S3D, you don't need a refund after the trial period to become a legitimate user, so I can't understand why the software is not cracked and will anger the legitimate users in the future.
If you don't fix this problem, some legitimate users may not pay to upgrade version 5.0, is version 5.0 6.0 cracked? If so, it is more secure to invest in Kisslicer. Or it is more likely to leave the legitimate user team.

I've been seriously considering purchasing S3D as I'm new to 3D printing and appreciate the value that developers can bring to the field. As a paying customer for other software programs, I completely understand that on-going development costs money. I would simply offer than other programs that I've paid for have offered a "free upgrade window" of 6-12 months for recent purchases.

I don't want to spend $150 for S3D now just to find that next month I have to pay an upgrade fee to go to 5.0. Without such assurance, I'd be inclined to just "wait it out" with another program until 5.0 is released.